Author: M. Shifley

Some words don’t just impact what folks read, it can also impact what folks share! This infographic from ShortStack provides data collected from Iris Shoor, Leo Widrich and Scott Ayres.

If you would like to discuss your marketing needs in greater detail, give me a call @ 208.995.9437 or send me an email so we can discuss how I can help you. Free 1-hour consultation available. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

The folks over at Creative Content Experts came up with a neat infographic about the difference between search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM). What do you think?

If you would like discuss SEO or SEM in greater detail, give me a call @ 208.995.9437 or send me an email so we can discuss how I can assist you. Free 1-hour consultation is available. Have a great day and thank you for stopping by.

Check out this infographic by the Social Media Research Team at Convonix, which will sum up the importance of mobile internet as a marketing medium. What do you think?

If you would like discuss mobile marketing in greater detail, give me a call @ 208.995.9437 or send me an email so we can discuss how I can assist you and take advantage of my free 1-hour consultation. Have a great day and thank you for stopping by.

If you would like discuss digital marketing in greater detail, give me a call @ 208.995.9437 or send me an email so we can discuss how I can assist you and take advantage of my free 1-hour consultation.

The new reality of consumer behavior is that mobile devices are becoming more and more crucial to our daily lives, and this reality is changing the way people consume media. And the battle for these consumers is now done in “micro-moments.” Google coined the phrase and explains how these moments are changing the rules:

“What used to be our predictable, daily sessions online have been replaced by many fragmented interactions that now occur instantaneously. There are hundreds of these moments every day—checking the time, texting a spouse, chatting with friends on social media.

“But then there are the other moments—the I want-to-know moments, I want-to-go moments, I want-to-do moments, and I want-to-buy moments—that really matter. We call these ‘micro-moments,’ and they’re game changers for both consumers and brands.”

To continue to be successful, companies need to have a strategy for understanding and meeting the needs of the customer in these micro-moments, and Google is helping to meet those consumer expectations with some new advertising features they rolled out recently on their YouTube TrueView ad format.

One of the features advertisers love about the TrueView ad format is that it gives the viewer options, the most common of which is the ability to skip the advertisement after five seconds. With TrueView ads, you don’t pay for random impressions or maybe-they-saw-its. The viewer has to choose to watch your video or there’s no charge.

Google made some significant changes to their TrueView ads by introducing cards, a new feature that allows companies to share more information about their brand, related videos and playlists, and link to their website directly from the TrueView video ad.

Google said to think of the cards like an evolution of annotations. They can inform your viewers about other videos, merchandise, playlists, websites and more. They can look as beautiful as your videos, are available anytime during the video and yes, they finally work on mobile.
Here’s an example of the cards panel on a mobile phone:

And an example of the cards panel on desktop:

Another exciting new feature they also recently released is their efforts to cut down on those maybe-they-saw-its. You could just click anywhere on the player and it would register a click but now only clicks to cards or CTAs, the video header, companion banner or a link at the bottom of the player will count as a click.

YouTube also introduced ‘TrueView for Shopping’ to its video ad offerings, a feature that enables merchants to add product links to their video ads. The capability is available for TrueView in-stream video ads on YouTube across mobile and desktop. It builds on the cards platform, and integrates Google Merchant Center – the first time this has been done with video ads.

Advertisers can connect their campaigns with a Merchant Center feed in order to automatically add products, which then appear alongside the video with a ‘buy now’ button that leads directly to the item’s purchase page on the merchant’s website.

Turning YouTube into a giant online marketplace is pretty serious, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out with Amazon and eBay.

TrueView for Shopping will fully roll out over ‘the coming months’, but YouTube has already started trialing the capability with some retailers.

Home goods retailer Wayfair reported a 3X increase in revenue per impression served compared to previous campaigns, while beauty retailer Sephora saw a 80% lift in consideration off the back of a TrueView for Shopping campaign.
Here’s an example of Wayfair’s TrueView for Shopping ad:

Welcome to the new age of marketing. Marketers need to identify these “micro-moments” and learn how to make each matter for their clients. By infusing these moments with meaning like taking advantage of the new TrueView ad features will help people make a better choice when those I want-to-know moments, I want-to-go moments, I want-to-do moments, and I want-to-buy moments arrive.

You don’t get a second chance at making a first impression.Most likely, there are a lot of competitors selling the exact same product or services as your business. How can you convert potential clients into buyers? First impressions and understanding the consumer.

For the purpose of this article, we are going to categorize potential clients into three areas. The customer service potential client, the need potential client, and the best price potential client. The potential client that buys from who they like puts a huge emphasis on customer service and they will buy from a person and a business that they feel most comfortable with. Once you convert this person into a buyer, you have a great chance of retaining a lifelong customer.The potential client that buys a product or service from whoever has what they need is usually a one time customer, however, this potential client can be converted into a lifelong customer. The best price only potential client will continue to buy from you, as long as you have the lowest price. This customer is usually unhappy no matter what you do, always feeling that they didn’t really get the best price.

So, how can you put this information to work in regards to first impressions? First, you need to realize that potential clients who buy from people they like, make up the majority of your customer base. They usually form an opinion of you in the first few seconds of the meet and greet stage. If you’re not making a good connection during the meet and greet, you’re only left with price shoppers and people who have to have what you are selling. Basically, you’re losing a lot sales.

How do we go about making a good impression during the meet and greet? We need to make sure that we’re positive and upbeat, no matter what might be going on in our world. Smile, I don’t care if you’re using a phone for your communication method, the person on the other end can sense a smile. You also need to come off as a confident individual, that sounds like an expert.

Does what you wear matter? If you are meeting potential clients in person, they see you before you ever open your mouth. Even if you are calling out to your potential clients, if you are lounging in your shorts, you probably sound like you’re at the beach. There is no such thing as being overdressed and you are only as good as you feel. Work on a proper introduction and if you are face-to-face with potential clients, you need to be making eye contact. In a business-to-consumer environment, if a female is involved, always introduce yourself to her first. Do not forget to introduce yourself to the whole party, even if they’re children. Please make a mental note of the names you obtain during the meet and greet and don’t forget them.

I can help you make a great first impression with your website, copywriting, or other online marketing needs.
Give me a call @ 208.995.9437 or send me an email so we can talk.

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I work with numerous companies throughout the Boise metropolitan area doing SEO, online marketing, and copywriting work so call me today at 208.995.9437 or contact me at mshifley@gmail.com to discuss how I can help you or your company. Whether you are based in Treasure Valley, or somewhere else in this great, big, beautiful world of ours, let me help you make a name for your company on the World Wide Web.